diff --git a/xcbutils.h b/xcbutils.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ebe7c283c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xcbutils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/********************************************************************
+ KWin - the KDE window manager
+ This file is part of the KDE project.
+
+Copyright (C) 2012, 2013 Martin Gräßlin <mgraesslin@kde.org>
+
+This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+(at your option) any later version.
+
+This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*********************************************************************/
+#ifndef KWIN_XCB_UTILS_H
+#define KWIN_XCB_UTILS_H
+
+#include <kwinglobals.h>
+#include "utils.h"
+
+#include <QRect>
+
+#include <xcb/xcb.h>
+
+namespace KWin {
+
+namespace Xcb {
+
+typedef xcb_window_t WindowId;
+
+template <typename Reply,
+    typename Cookie,
+    Reply *(*replyFunc)(xcb_connection_t*, Cookie, xcb_generic_error_t**),
+    Cookie (*requestFunc)(xcb_connection_t*, xcb_window_t)>
+class Wrapper
+{
+public:
+    explicit Wrapper(WindowId window)
+        : m_retrieved(false)
+        , m_cookie(requestFunc(connection(), window))
+        , m_window(window)
+    {
+    }
+
+    inline const Reply *operator->() {
+        getReply();
+        return m_reply.data();
+    }
+    inline operator bool() {
+        getReply();
+        return !m_reply.isNull();
+    }
+    inline const QSharedPointer<Reply> &data() {
+        getReply();
+        return m_reply;
+    }
+    inline WindowId window() const {
+        return m_window;
+    }
+
+protected:
+    void getReply() {
+        if (m_retrieved) {
+            return;
+        }
+        m_reply = QSharedPointer<Reply>(replyFunc(connection(), m_cookie, NULL), &free);
+        m_retrieved = true;
+    }
+
+private:
+    bool m_retrieved;
+    Cookie m_cookie;
+    WindowId m_window;
+    QSharedPointer<Reply> m_reply;
+};
+
+typedef Wrapper<xcb_get_window_attributes_reply_t, xcb_get_window_attributes_cookie_t, &xcb_get_window_attributes_reply, &xcb_get_window_attributes_unchecked> WindowAttributes;
+
+
+class WindowGeometry : public Wrapper<xcb_get_geometry_reply_t, xcb_get_geometry_cookie_t, &xcb_get_geometry_reply, &xcb_get_geometry_unchecked>
+{
+public:
+    explicit WindowGeometry(xcb_window_t window) : Wrapper<xcb_get_geometry_reply_t, xcb_get_geometry_cookie_t, &xcb_get_geometry_reply, &xcb_get_geometry_unchecked>(window) {}
+
+    inline QRect rect() {
+        const QSharedPointer<xcb_get_geometry_reply_t> &geometry = data();
+        if (geometry.isNull()) {
+            return QRect();
+        }
+        return QRect(geometry->x, geometry->y, geometry->width, geometry->height);
+    }
+};
+
+} // namespace X11
+
+} // namespace KWin
+#endif // KWIN_X11_UTILS_H